FREMDE SONNE-Marathon

In the organizer's words:

FREMDE SONNE Marathon
The Argonauts. Iason. Medea.

A series in six episodes by Roland Schimmelpfennig

at the SchauSpielHaus

The enormous popularity we enjoyed with our five-part series "ANTHROPOLIS. Monster. City. Thebes." over the last three years encouraged us to produce a new cycle of antiquity for the opening of the 2026-27 season. In "FREMDE SONNE. The Argonauts. Iason. Medea.", this time we have taken on the prehistory of imperial and colonial undertakings of civilization, the voyage of the Argonauts to conquer the Golden Fleece, including its consequence, the phenomenon of "Medea".

So what happens in the second season? Society is stagnating politically, economically and socially. It lacks a sustainable vision of a liveable world. The promise of progress of yesteryear is swept up in a maelstrom of commodity flows, fear of catastrophe, loss of power and greed and dragged into the depths of depression. Setting out for new shores in other worlds appears to be the only solution on the horizon. Iolkos, a medium-sized port city north of Thebes, thinks that the battered and hollowed-out civilization must be brought forward again. It was the birth of the Argonaut myth, the tale of the first all-Greek expedition to distant Colchis on the Black Sea coast, in what is now Georgia. A legendary Golden Fleece is believed to be found there, promising the solution to all problems. Like the Holy Grail in the Middle Ages, the Golden Fleece or the "foreign sun" is a promise of salvation. It symbolizes a bright future, world-dominating knowledge, repair, wealth and, above all, eternal youth. However, the "foreign sun" also means danger, combustion, unpredictability. The Argonauts' venture thus becomes a "Mission Impossible", a journey to disaster. It is only thanks to the Colchian Medea that the Golden Fleece finally makes it to Greece. At its core, "FREMDE SONNE" is about a civilization's claim to hegemony over the whole world, no, actually over the whole universe. The cosmic lust for power is linked to the possession of information, truth, the sovereignty of interpretation over world history and the power over the construction of reality.

Roland Schimmelpfennig has developed five new theater texts from the epic model of the Argonaut myth. Only "Medea in Corinth: The Lost Children" is based on the dramatic model by Euripides/Grillparzer and has been newly translated by Schimmelpfennig into a contemporary poetic language. The plays have been prepared and rehearsed for over two years in preparation for their premiere on the opening weekend of the 2026-27 season. The sixth and final part, "Medea in Athens: The Found Son", will premiere at the beginning of February 2027. The individual productions can be seen on their own or in chronological order one after the other in a marathon.

The MarathonTicket:

You can visit the performances individually or see all parts in one weekend. Until the premiere of "Medea in Athens" (6/2/27), the "FREMDE SONNE" weekends comprise three performances, from 6/2 onwards there will be four performances. Advance ticket sales for the individual performances of "FREMDE SONNE" begin at the regular advance booking start of the respective month.

One weekend - one seat - one ticket!

The next marathon weekends:

September 2026

Sat, 26/9/2026 - 7.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE I: "Prologue/Interlude/The Argonauts"
Sun, 27/9/2026 - 4.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE II: "Medea in Colchis"
Sun, 27/9/2026 - 8.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE III: "Medea in Corinth"

October 2026

Sat, 10/10/2026 - 7.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE I: "Prologue/Interlude/The Argonauts"
Sun, 11/10/2026 - 4.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE II: "Medea in Colchis"
Sun, 11/10/2026 - 20.00 - FREMDE SONNE III: "Medea in Corinth"

Sat, 24/10/2026 - 7.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE I: "Prologue/Interlude/The Argonauts"
Sun, 25/10/2026 - 4.00 pm - FREMDE SONNE II: "Medea in Colchis"
Sun, 25/10/2026 - 20.00 - FREMDE SONNE III: "Medea in Corinth"

Further dates are being planned!

Further information: FREMDE SONNE Marathon | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg